Both churches are affiliated with the Anglican Coalition in Canada (ACiC), a group of 11 congregations from across the country that left the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) at various points after the Diocese of New Westminster voted in favour of blessing same-sex unions in 2002. ACiC clergy are licensed through the Anglican Church of Rwanda.

While he is in the area, Yong will also take part in a 'Common Cause Celebration of Orthodoxy' at Sutherland Church in North Vancouver.

Ed Hird, rector of St. Simon's North Vancouver, a church that meets at Lions Gate Christian Academy, said the 'Common Cause' celebration was not just for members of the ACiC, but for all Anglicans who are taking a stand for orthodox beliefs.

This includes such groups as the Anglican Community in New Westminster (ACiNW), a group of six parishes that has withheld funds from the diocese while seeking an alternative bishop from within the ACC; the Anglican Network in Canada, a group that is preparing contingency plans if the ACC should lose its ties to the global Anglican communion; the Essentials Federation; and Anglican Essentials.

"We've also invited people who are still in the diocese who are standing for orthodox truth, so we've invited people quite widely," said Hird. All of these groups, he said, share the ultimate goal of "working towards Anglican realignment."

For its part, Anglican Essentials Canada and the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) are holding meetings in Toronto this week, August 23 - 26, to prepare for next year's general synod -- the national meeting of the entire Anglican Church of Canada.

Cheryl Chang, executive director of the ANiC, said there could be some intriguing developments before then. The primates of the "global south", who generally support the conservative Anglicans in North America, are scheduled to meet in Rwanda in September; and all of the Anglican primates will meet again in February 2007.

Chang said the primates may address recent developments in the Episcopal Church USA. The American branch of the Anglican communion elected a female primate who supports blessing same-sex unions at its general convention in June; it also passed a resolution that called for "restraint" in consecrating practising homosexuals as bishops, but did not call for a moratorium on same-sex blessings, as Anglican leaders from around the world had requested in the Windsor Report.

"We expect there will be some response [to ECUSA] from the global communion before the general synod, which may have an impact on what everybody does," said Chang.

She also noted that the next Lambeth Conference -- a gathering of Anglican bishops from all over the world that takes place every 10 years -- will occur in 2008, but the invitations to that conference will be sent out some time in 2007. "That is really the big date, because everybody wants to know who will be invited," she said.

Traditionally, bishops are considered part of the Anglican communion if the Archbishop of Canterbury invites them to Lambeth, and some bishops have said they will boycott the conference if New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, an active homosexual who was ordained in 2003, is invited to the conference.

Meanwhile, the six parishes in the ACiNW, who have declared themselves in impaired communion with New Westminster Bishop Michael Ingham ever since he approved the blessing of same-sex unions in 2002, are waiting to see whether the Archbishop of Canterbury will intervene in their quest to find an alternative bishop.

At the request of his fellow primates, Archbishop Rowan Williams set up a 'Panel of Reference' to hear applications from Anglican congregations seeking alternative bishops. In late July, the Panel met with representatives from the ACiNW parishes and the diocese, as well as Canadian primate Archbishop Andrew Hutchinson.

Spokespeople for the parishes and the diocese declined to comment on their meetings with the Panel before it releases its report. The report is expected sometime in the fall.

END